This chapter describes tools for researchers to address the tasks of problem definition, measurement, causal processes, and generalization. We begin with an extended example of developing practice-based evidence in community-based youth justice organizations in New York City.
The diverse mix of policies and practices in the juvenile justice system raises questions about its future.
Are today’s violent crime rates different from the rates of 30 years ago? Do trends in serious and violent crime by juveniles (under age 18) differ from trends among older youth (i.e., young adults ages 18-24), and how much of the overall crime decline that began in the 1990s can be attributed to juvenies and older youth?
Butts, Jeffrey [committee member] with Simon Singer (2013). Current Practice in the Juvenile Justice System (Chapter 3, pp. 49-88). In Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach. Richard J. Bonnie, Robert L. Johnson, Betty M. Chemers, and Julie A. Schuck (Editors). Washington, DC: National Research Council of the National Academies. Report in Brief Juvenile justice is a [...]
Butts, Jeffrey, Douglas Evans, and Jocelyn Fontaine (2013). Reducing the Risks and Consequences of Crime Victimization in Schools. In Victims of Crime. Robert C. Davis, Arthur J. Lurigio, and Susan Herman (Editors), Fourth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Recent surveys of school administrators and students indicate that school crime is falling in the [...]
Butts, Jeffrey A. and John Roman (2011). Better Research for Better Policies, in Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice. Sherman, Francine and Francine Jacobs (Editors). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. To do their jobs effectively, policymakers, professionals, and community partners must be able to access high-quality information about the impact of policies and [...]
Butts, Jeffrey A., John K. Roman, and Jennifer Lynn-Whaley (2011). Varieties of Juvenile Court: Nonspecialized Courts, Teen Courts, Drug Courts, and Mental Health Courts, in The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice, Barry C. Feld and Donna M. Bishop (Editors). New York: Oxford University Press. This chapter addresses the growing use of specialized, [...]
Willison, Janeen B., Daniel P. Mears, and Jeffrey A. Butts (2011). The U.S. Juvenile Justice Policy Landscape. In U.S. Criminal Justice Policy: A Contemporary Reader. Karim Ismaili (Editor). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning, Inc. The diverse mix of policies and practices introduced in recent years raises important questions about the posture of juvenile justice today. Most [...]
Jeffrey A. Butts and Daniel P. Mears (2011). Trends in American Youth Crime. In Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice, David W. Springer and Albert R. Roberts (Editors). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. This chapter answers two deceptively simple questions, “How much juvenile crime is there today?” and “How does the level of juvenile crime today [...]
Jeffrey A. Butts and Caterina Gouvis Roman (2010). A Community Youth Development Approach to Gang Control Programs. In Youth Gangs and Community Intervention: Research, Practice, and Evidence. Robert J. Chaskin (Editor). New York: Columbia University Press. This chapter describes a potential path to a stronger conceptual framework for youth gang prevention and early intervention that draws upon [...]
